Here at THE VINYL DISTRICTwe're good consumers. All Mp3's are posted to promote and give exposure to the music and are linked for a limited time. Please download to preview, then head promptly to your local vinyl vendor (or - OK, CD store too) and fork over your hard earned cash. You'll appreciate the piece of mind.

Got something you think we should be listening to or reading? thevinyldistrict (at) gmail.com

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Brit-indie stalwarts and NME mainstays, Ash have been hard at work over the past number of months on their A-Z series—a series of 26 singles released individually as digital downloads and 7" singles, released and pressed as the band writes and records them.

In a NME interview vocalist and guitarist Tim Wheeler opined "We wanted to be the first people to do it like this. I think it'll be great for our fans waiting every two weeks knowing they're going to get a song and wondering what it'll be like. It'll be fun."

Bassist Mark Hamilton also spoke of the merits of releasing in an alternative way, "We thought we’d come up with a different model where we never really had to be actually be away, that might work better. That was one of the reasons. We had the freedom when launching our own label as well, to try something different, so we’re going to give it a go. I think if it works, a lot of people might copy it."

Out today (4/20) arrives the fruit of Ash's 'A-Z Series' to date compiled on one CD for the first time. It's the singles A-M, plus the first track released, “Return of White Rabbit,” and also four bonus tracks.

But this being the ye olde Vinyl District, we knew you'd want to get your hands on some vinyl to herald the release of the CD compilation, so we set about rummaging for something special to offer—and we've come up with a one-of-a-kind,signed7" test pressing of the newest single, 'Dare to Dream' — Single N. (That's it up there in the photo.)

Want the one-of-a-kind Ash 7" mailed directly to your place of residence? Get creative ala Ash's A-Z series in the comments to this post (with contact info!) and tell us why you deserve to be the bearer of this special signed item.

One grand prize winner will get the 7" and a free subscription to the digital A-Z Series. You'll get the first 14 singles (A-N) now and will receive singles O-Z as they're released, plus receive free exclusive bonus tracks. One runner up will receive the subscription to the the A-Z Series alone.

You've got until Tuesday, 4/27 to suitably impress us - now go get creative!

3 comments:

A...is for "A Clear Invitation To Dance"B...is for "Burn Baby Burn"C...is for "Cherry Bomb"D...is for "Detonator"E...is for "Evil Eye"F...is for Free All AngelsG...is for "Goldfinger"H...is for Mark HamiltonI...is for IrelandJ...is for "Jack Names The Planets"K...is for "Kung Fu"L...is for "Lose Control"M...is for MeltdownN...is for "Nicole"O...is for "Out Of The Blue"P...is for "Pacific Palisades"Q...is for Quick pick my entryR...is for Rick McMurrayS...is for "Submission"T...is for "There's A Star"U...is for "Uncle Pat"V...is for "Vampire Love"W...is for Tim WheelerX...is for XOXO's to you if I winY...is for You need to pick meZ...is for Is for the sound I'll be making while dreaming of winning this.

Ash are a Brilliant band and this first compilation of the A-Z series is Cracking. It needs buying without any Dithering as it is Electricifying and Fantastic with a Gigantic tracklisting. If you Hesiate to buy this you must be Insane with a Jumbo sized gap in your music collection that must surely upset your Karma. Possibly you're just too Lazy to understand what you're Missing, but No Ordinary People are Quietly passing this Release by without Seeing what the fuss is about and Transforming their music collection. Listening to the cd you can Understand the Veritable expectation in Waiting for a new single every other week like Xmas morning, so strap Yourself in to be blown away the Zephyr that is the A-Z series.